A report by PAIndependent states that in this year’s state budget process, the Pennsylvania Legislature “routinely hosted key committee meetings in hot, cramped rooms that couldn’t accommodate all those interested in watching.”

“While crowds of observers and lobbyists were left in the hallway, craning to hear the action inside, those lucky enough to find a spot sweated it out or battled claustrophobia,” reported Andrew Staub.

Leave it to Pennsylvania lawmakers to find a way to keep taxpayers out of an “open meeting.”

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According to the report, the Republican leadership, especially in appropriations, routinely uses for meetings conference rooms that are both too small for observers and also lack the camera feeds found in larger meeting rooms.

Without the camera feeds, folks at home, i.e. taxpayers, miss out on budget proceedings that could be broadcast on Pennsylvania Cable Network.

In some cases, the rooms become so hot and crowded with lobbyists and legislators that some have complained of possible fire code violations and the danger of people passing out -- “or worse” -- in the words of Bill Patton, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, PAIndependent reported.

Melissa Melewsky, an attorney with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, told Staub that while the Sunshine Act does not address the size of the meeting rooms, it might be something for the General Assembly to consider.

“As much public access as possible is ideal, whether that’s through a bigger room or televised access or both,” Melewsky said. “The important thing is that anyone who’s interested needs to have a method of access to that decision because once it’s over, it’s over, and the public has lost the opportunity to see what’s going on.

The problem is not that the Legislature doesn’t have enough space. In one example cited, the Senate Appropriations Committee and Rules Committee often meets in the small Senate Rules Room even though a larger meeting room with a camera feed exists about a five-minute walk from the Senate chamber.

The issue has higher stakes than the comfort level of participants.

In a notable example, during a July 2 meeting of the House Rules Committee to consider a higher cigarette tax in Philadelphia to help fund education, state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, complained about the cramped quarters, which he later described as “congested beyond any level of reason.”

The committee chairman, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, responded that he’d shut down the meeting if there was concern, Staub reported. Frankel dropped the matter rather than risk jeopardizing the important discussion.

The danger and discomfort of crowded rooms close the process to observers but complaints then threaten to shut down negotiations that are necessary to get things done. It’s a no-win situation for citizens.

Barry Kauffman, executive director of the government reform group Common Cause Pennsylvania, noted to PAIndependent that the Capitol is equipped with plenty of larger hearing rooms that offer video feeds for the public. The larger quarters are a mere five minutes away for lawmakers.

Kauffman also noted that the video feeds can truly open up the process to constituents. “I’m always stunned at how many people watch PCN and local cable media,” Kauffman told PAIndependent. “I think when we’re doing these kinds of issues, they should take the extra few minutes just to go to a room that will accommodate the crowd.”

Talk about business being done in smoke-filled back rooms -- in Harrisburg, it’s more than a characterization of closed government, it’s real.